As part of my Life coaching offering, among other people, I am coaching a young professional who seems a little lost.
He has several goals. When he showed me the list of his goals, the list seemed very impressive. The goals covered several aspects of his life – health, wealth, career and his contribution to his family.
In this case, the fact that the goals were very impressive was the problem. Many of the goals were coterminous, meaning, several goals were to be accomplished within the same time frame. He had not thought through the steps to reach each of the goals. The fact that many of these goals were coterminous meant that he had to make progress on each of those goals almost every day.
Not sure if you have ever witnessed performances of Chinese acrobats who, using a long and slender stick, spin several porcelain bowls on the floor. After the acrobat has set the first bowl on the floor, he puts it into motion. As the bowl begins to spin, he adds more bowls and does likewise. As a bowl slows down, he repeats the act with the stick. He carefully observes all the bowls and spins them as needed. At a certain point, when the acrobat steps back, the audience can see all the bowls spinning all around him. It is always a spectacular performance.
I use the Chinese acrobat story as an allegory to describe multitasking – in this case, making small progress simultaneously on many goals at regular intervals. The small regular steps finally add up to achieve the goals.
I have become quite an expert at providing what could seem like a ‘reality-check jolt’.
It was no different in this case.
When I helped him break up the big goal into steps and requested him to add the final timelines, I thought I spotted the jolt. When I asked him to put months and later weeks and plot the smaller steps, it was quite clear to him that either the goals and/or the timelines had to be re-calibrated. I could see the coaching process work right there. Something had shifted within him. He got the idea and has committed to come back with laser-sharp goals with clear timelines. He seems to have got instant rewards from the coaching process.
While working with adults, I have to remember that adults learn best when:
– they see the relevance of what they are learning
– they can build on their own experience
– they see the learning address their current challenges
– they see value
– the learning is practical and participative
As a Coach, my role is to facilitate the process of learning. During the coaching process, I make sure I follow the above principles.
Socrates once said, ‘I cannot teach anyone anything. I can only make them think.’ A coach plays this role by holding a mirror and asking the right questions.
A lot of times, we fall into the trap of setting up impressive goals. It looks great from a distance and just the setting up of such goals could give us a false sense of accomplishment, almost to the point of being intoxicated.
It is like signing up for a gym membership and already imagining that the weight-loss process has begun.
We could continue feeling heady without making any significant progress on the goals. When we realize that the goal cannot be achieved, we simply create another goal or set of goals using the same technology. Obviously, the results are no different and life goes on… nothing much to write home about.
As one of my Quotes goes, ‘Results prove the intention.‘
A powerful life is a life of powerful goals. But these goals grant us power only when they are effectively achieved. Is your life powerful or is it turning out to be a sum total of weak goals and/or weak results?
Live a powerful life. Sign up for coaching by clicking on the tab, ‘Services’, on my website. In specific areas, coaching is known to produce instant rewards.
See coaching as an investment for your life, not as a cost.
After all, there is only one life.
